A streamlined visitor check-in process can make a positive first impression to all the external guests that come to your office. But that’s only one part of creating a visitor experience that is seamless, stress-free, enjoyable, and productive from the moment they arrive until the moment they leave.
Visitor management is the key to ensuring every visitor gets the experience they expect, and putting the right visitor management system in place can help you make that happen.
What is visitor management?
Visitor management is the practice of keeping track of the people who come into or out of your premises. Generally speaking, this would be anybody in the building who is not a direct employee of the business, including (but not necessarily limited to): meeting attendees, job interview candidates, delivery people, contractors and vendors, auditors and regulatory professionals, or unexpected drop-ins.
However, with flexible working on the rise post-pandemic, it may now also be worth considering employees as visitors, too. That’s because businesses can no longer assume that all employees will be in the office every single day. And with different employees coming in on different days throughout the week, previous systems for managing employee access may now be out of date with changed needs. Ensuring their entry, work, and exit from the office is seamless is just as important as it is for external visitors.
How does a visitor management system work?
A visitor management system includes all the processes and activities involved in taking care of visitors from the time of arrival through to the time of departure. Any visitor management system should prioritize giving visitors an experience that is as smooth, efficient, and hassle-free as possible.
Using the example of an external visitor attending the office for a meeting, they should be able to:
- Arrive at the office and check-in quickly (or even be able to check-in digitally prior to arrival)
- Supply their personal details to check-in without risk of them being compromised or falling into the wrong hands
- Know exactly who they’re meeting, where they’re meeting them, and how to get there
- Understand what to do in case of an emergency
- Quickly check out of the building when they leave
All of these activities require processes to be completed, whether it’s the reception or front-of-house team helping with check-in, internal employees the guest is meeting with booking a suitable meeting room, or delivering information such as wayfinding or emergency procedures. Putting these processes in place can be very efficient and simple, or highly complex and time-consuming, depending on the type of visitor management system deployed.
What types of visitor management systems are there?
There are three main types of visitor management systems, which basically vary depending on the extent to which technology supports the processes involved.
- Pen and paper: the old-fashioned approach of using a paper-based visitor log book might seem like the simplest and cheapest solution, but it can be fraught with risk. For a start, it can be time-consuming to manage and generate long queues at reception as visitors are checked in one-by-one, but there’s also a security risk of visitors’ personal information being visible on the page for others to see.
- On-premise software: while this does allow for better security of data and quicker processing, these solutions often cost more than they’re really worth. Keeping them updated and secured from cyber-threats, buying and maintaining the hardware needed to run it, finding the physical space for that hardware, and buying the software itself — all these requirements cost money. You may also find yourself with a system unable to adapt to changing business needs, too.
- Cloud-based software: this option provides the greatest flexibility, integration, and data security of all three options. Visitors can enter check-in data on a self-service kiosk in reception, which automatically registers their arrival without any staff intervention necessary. They can get information about how to reach their meeting room, while front-of-house staff can clearly see on a dashboard who is in the building at any time. There’s no need for any hardware, data is stored securely in the cloud, and a good system will integrate with other platforms like workspace management and scheduling.
Ready to reimagine your own visitor management system for the future of work? Learn more about how Proxyclick’s cloud-based solutions can streamline and improve visitor management for your company while seamlessly integrating with your existing Condeco package.
